Evidence continues to mount that Apple plans to do something to commemorate the tenth anniversary of its retail endeavors, though whether the event would be a new product unveiling or something else remains a mystery.

Citing a "solid Apple source," Boy Genius Report said on Monday that Apple "may be planning something big" to commemorate the anniversary coming this Thursday, May 19. That aligns with an exclusive AppleInsider report from April that revealed Apple had restricted employee time off in May.

Specifically, retail employees were told last month via e-mail that they could not request days off between May 20 and May 22, and that store managers were "very excited" about those dates.

The latest report claims that an overnight shift has been planned at each store that will require between 10 and 15 workers to work late Saturday through mid-Sunday. During that overnight shift, employees will reportedly be required to lock their cell phones in the main office, and will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement with Apple.

Those employees are apparently from a variety of roles including Geniuses, Specialists, a manager, visuals staff, a business team member, and a back-of-house employee. Stores have already received hardware to install, and more is expected to arrive later this week.

The report also states that Apple employees will put up black curtains so customers cannot see inside as they work, and employees have had to download gigabytes of password-protected data related to corporate training.

Adding even more fuel to the fire, MacStories also reported on Monday that Apple has scheduled store meetings at a very early 7 a.m. start time this Sunday, May 22. Boy Genius Report said there are also mandatory meetings set to be held in the evening.

No details of what Apple could be planning have surfaced, though one potential product could be the rumored iCloud service that is expected to play a major role in future versions of iOS and Mac OS, and also offer streaming music and media capabilities. In April, Reuters reported that Apple's work on its new streaming music service was "completed," while a separate report claimed that Apple has inked deals with two major record labels.

Apple allegedly offered no detailed specifics on its cloud-based service in negotiations, leaving those in the music industry to suggest that the Cupertino, Calif., company could choose to launch the service at any point.

Of course, it's also possible that Apple's plans could be sales and promotions related to the tenth anniversary of its successful retail locations. The first two Apple stores opened May 19, 2001 in McLean, Virginia, at the Tyson's Corner Mall, and at the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, Calif.

I wonder why one of the two first stores was in Virginia of all places. In fact, due to the time difference, the Virginia location was actually the first Apple store to open I imagine.

Correct. Tyson's opened hours before Glendale. Why those locations? Mostly available real estate vs. desired locations. Early on, ARS (Apple Retail Stores) were extremely finicky about which malls fit criteria and even where in the mall the store would be placed. The real story is what was sold in those first stores... are far cry from the abundance of product you find now. Congrats former Apple colleagues. Congrats Ron and Jerry - you did it!

The Apple store in Pasadena, CA moved to a smaller space on the side while the main store covered up with wood boards. One of the Apple employee told me they are "remodeling" the space but he doesn't know how it looks like

MobileMe services have been experiencing problems today.
iCloud is somewhere on the horizon.
No new rumors of hardware anywhere in the channel or otherwise.
A major event is brewing in Apple Retail....

Apple Stores will finally have public restrooms. It'll be those public stalls you see in downtown London or San Francisco, except these will be the type where the glass is transparent, but then goes opaque when the door is locked.

It would be funny if Apple delivered the iPhone 5 while everyone else said they were delayed until September.

It would be funny, I would be happy, but I also don’t think it’s possible. There are just too many companies and people involved to keep a new iPhone a secret

Quote:

Originally Posted by OriginalG

Are retail stores open on Sunday in the US? Does this mean that the stores might not be open Sunday morning?

Also I wonder how this is going to play out for Canadians as the 23rd is a holiday.

Typically. Mall stores tend to have fewer hours on Sunday, like noon to 6pm. Individual stores can have different hours if their contracts allow, and of course stores not in malls tend to have much looser operating restrictions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibgarrett

Let's connect the dots shall we?

MobileMe services have been experiencing problems today.
iCloud is somewhere on the horizon.
No new rumors of hardware anywhere in the channel or otherwise.
A major event is brewing in Apple Retail....

Something tells me it is likely to be the iCloud...

If we consider that MobileMe’s upgrade doesn’t need an event with Jobs discussing its ins-and-outs, and that their website and B&M stores with new banners are sufficient for propagating word-of-mouth, viral marketing then I agree that it’s probably about their data center services.

I just hope they have some sort of control valve to increase or decrease the number of users who can sign up for this service so they can keep it from crashing the way MobileMe did. Start with the old .Mac members I say (oh, that means me doesn’t it? What a happy coincidence. )

PS: If we use someone having trouble with MobileMe as a sign then we should have expected iCloud to appear July 9th, 2008.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

MobileMe services have been experiencing problems today.
iCloud is somewhere on the horizon.
No new rumors of hardware anywhere in the channel or otherwise.
A major event is brewing in Apple Retail....

Something tells me it is likely to be the iCloud...

But will people flock to the Apple Stores for the reveal of a new cloud service? Unless there is going to be a live web cast (on the new 50"plasmas someone mentioned?) Personally I think it will be something more than iCloud. Maybe they are handing out free iCloud CD's. Or maybe a simultaneous live concert in every Apple store to bring in the new cloud based iTunes.

But will people flock to the Apple Stores for the reveal of a new cloud service? Unless there is going to be a live web cast (on the new 50"plasmas someone mentioned?) Personally I think it will be something more than iCloud. Maybe they are handing out free iCloud CD's. Or maybe a simultaneous live concert in every Apple store to bring in the new cloud based iTunes.

1) The TV idea still makes no sense. Apple cant even sell a great many AppleTVs that cost $99 and hook up to any number of TVs, so selling a 50 HDTV that takes up a lot of room and has a small profit margin compared to their other offerings makes no sense.

2) The data center going live makes the most sense since its a throughput service. Starting on a Sunday will lower the hit to their servers and let the pundits create a wall of Apple-related news on the new services for Monday. All the stores would be doing are putting up new window dressings and getting trained, but Apples main page would also reflect this and have the most detailed and thorough info, like with videos of the service in action, which is likely much better than a host event of Jobs paling with it on a couch.

Im going all in for the data center going fully operational. After all, the MobileMe has been off the shelves at Apple Stores since February, weve heard that Apple has both finished the DC and have secured lincses with their iTS partners, and both Google and Amazon haves already weighed in with their half-assed services. Its seems to me this isnt something that should be released along iOS 5 and/or at WWDC.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

This has to be new hardware, not just an update. They just upgraded imac, without any big splash or extra work shifts.

New console game to compete against ps3 and xbox? That would be huge, although it would be hard to believe that they could keep it such a complete secret, since they wold have to involve game developers so they could introduce it on day 1 with dozens of popular games... Not just iOS kind of games.

Another version of iMac with a touch screen? Apple is slipping behind, hp and lenovo and dell all have touch screen AIO. Still can't believe that would generatethat much foot traffic, and they would have released a touch screen model at the same time as the recent refresh of the refresh.

But will people flock to the Apple Stores for the reveal of a new cloud service? Unless there is going to be a live web cast (on the new 50"plasmas someone mentioned?) Personally I think it will be something more than iCloud. Maybe they are handing out free iCloud CD's. Or maybe a simultaneous live concert in every Apple store to bring in the new cloud based iTunes.

iCloud and other online enhancements/services for tech unveiling and web traffic/buzz.
In-store offers or discounts, etc to drive store traffic. Imagine how many people would flock to the stores to save 10% on anything. 10th Anniversary of brick and mortar stores. 10% off at brick and mortar stores only. One day or one week only. Would be lots of positive image/PR and they could pretty well calculate their costs because there is a finite amount of product you can move during a limited time.
And they don't need to release any new hardware to create the web buzz or foot traffic and sales.
Best of both worlds.
Then they'll again get plenty of attention when they release new hardware in the coming months.

Apple Stores will finally have public restrooms. It'll be those public stalls you see in downtown London or San Francisco, except these will be the type where the glass is transparent, but then goes opaque when the door is locked.

Would be much funnier if the glass were opaque, until the user locked the door.

iCloud and other online enhancements/services for tech unveiling and web traffic/buzz.
In-store offers or discounts, etc to drive store traffic. Imagine how many people would flock to the stores to save 10% on anything. 10th Anniversary of brick and mortar stores. 10% off at brick and mortar stores only. One day or one week only. Would be lots of positive image/PR and they could pretty well calculate their costs because there is a finite amount of product you can move during a limited time.
And they don't need to release any new hardware to create the web buzz or foot traffic and sales.
Best of both worlds.
Then they'll again get plenty of attention when they release new hardware in the coming months.

I think that makes sense even though its getting harder for me to imagine Apple selling .Mac/MobileMe-like boxes to customers. However, if they do plan on selling iCloud services through 3rd-parties, like Amazon, they will need a physical product with a redeem code.

PS: Would they leverage iCloud as a download in Mac App Store to help promote it or an update via Software Update the way they did with .Mac to MobileMe?

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

1) The TV idea still makes no sense. Apple cant even sell a great many AppleTVs that cost $99 and hook up to any number of TVs, so selling a 50 HDTV that takes up a lot of room and has a small profit margin compared to their other offerings makes no sense.

2) The data center going live makes the most sense since its a throughput service. Starting on a Sunday will lower the hit to their servers and let the pundits create a wall of Apple-related news on the new services for Monday. All the stores would be doing are putting up new window dressings and getting trained, but Apples main page would also reflect this and have the most detailed and thorough info, like with videos of the service in action, which is likely much better than a host event of Jobs paling with it on a couch.

Im going all in for the data center going fully operational. After all, the MobileMe has been off the shelves at Apple Stores since February, weve heard that Apple has both finished the DC and have secured lincses with their iTS partners, and both Google and Amazon haves already weighed in with their half-assed services. Its seems to me this isnt something that should be released along iOS 5 and/or at WWDC.

I am definitely leaning your way. Specially when it comes to the Apple TV (as in 50"). I think there will be something else in terms of creating an event out of both the anniversary and the launch of icloud. Ten years, ten days, ten %, os x all have much potential for a very unusual applesque event contextualisation. If iTunes is hitting the clouds I would also imagine something special to mark that event. Hey! this is all beginning to sound more like a festival than a launch. The only thing that makes me wary is the prospect of back bone melt down. Will apple risk such a big bang event?